information to make policies that protect them,”
Cramp says. “One of the reasons we’re studying
sharks is because they’re in trouble, and we want to
know if the laws we have in the Cook Islands work.”
Before the sanctuary was created, a vessel could
easily catch five or six sharks a day, says Josh Mitchell,
who oversaw commercial fisheries for the Ministry
of Marine Resources. His inspectors could smell
ammonia, which seeps out of sharks’ skin, as soon
as they boarded a boat. Often the crew would sell the
fins in parts of Asia where shark-fin soup is a delicacy.
When the zero-tolerance policy went into force
in 2012, the inspectors were relieved, Mitchell says,
because it left no room for interpretation. Since then
four boats have paid a total of $247,000 in fines (one
lower fine was levied on a local boat).
A college professor once told Cramp that the best
scientists spend their entire lives trying to disprove
their own theories. So for three years Cramp has been
crunching global data to evaluate whether large-
scale protected areas like the one she helped design
are keeping sharks alive. She hopes this information
will help conservationists and lawmakers develop
more effective policies. “I just know sharks are still
dying within sanctuaries,” says Cramp. “And if they
don’t work, then all the political will, all the kudos,
all the momentum, is for nothing.”
She’s come to realize that even when the law
seems absolute, there are gray areas. In multiple
instances Cook Islands authorities haven’t fined a
boat with shark parts on board because it was just
passing through the nation’s waters or had entered
to request medical assistance.
Traditionally sharks were an animal guardian, a
taura atua, to Cook Islanders. But to modern-day
commercial fishermen, they’re the competition.
Fishermen lure their catch with devices that dangle
under buoys a few miles offshore—but they also
attract hungry sharks. This has become a battlefield
for Cramp’s conservation efforts. “The mentality
here is, if you’re getting sharked, go catch a shark,”
says a local skipper.
A few days before the camera-drop trip, Cramp
stops by the port looking for bait. “You guys catch-
ing anything today?” she asks a group of fishermen
gathered around a picnic table. “Seen any sharks?”
The answer is no to both, but Cramp has heard that
one of them recently killed a shark, and she confronts
him. “It was messing with me!” he hollers back.
Cramp has a reputation in the port; fishermen call
her the shark lady. She tries not to lecture this one
about the kill—just say enough that it sticks in his
head. “He will start to kill fewer sharks,” she says,
“because he’ll feel bad.”
On boat rides to place and retrieve the GoPros,
Cramp’s young helpers don’t see any sharks to tag. The
next day they watch the GoPro footage: fish sucking
on the bait stick, eels battling in front of the camera.
Two hours in, Cramp spots something circling in the
background: “There’s a shark!” High fives all around.
“That was my camera drop,” Rongo says proudly.
Cramp envisions someday passing her work on to
a Cook Islander. Rongo and Smith, both high school
seniors, are considering going to college for marine
biology. “Instead of saying, ‘I work in an office,’ you’d
be like, ‘I’m a shark lady,’” Smith muses. “ That’d be
such a cool name to have.”
Marine conservationist and shark researcher Jessica Cramp is
a participant in the new partnership that longtime allies Rolex and
National Geographic formed in 2017. Its motto, “Committed to
a Perpetual Planet,” reflects its mission: to promote conservation
and exploration of Earth’s oceans, poles, and mountains. Learn
more at nationalgeographic.com/environment/perpetual-planet.
In 2012 the Cook Islands became one of
the world’s 17 shark sanctuaries, which protect
a collective 7.5 million square miles of ocean.
Its regulations, including those listed at right,
attempt to curtail the killing of sharks,
estimated at tens of millions annually.
Forbidden Fishing
Bans vessels operating within
the nation’s exclusive economic
zone from targeting sharks.
Fines
Levies a fine of $73,000 to
$182,000 on any boat found
with shark parts on board.
Wire Ban
Forbids trace wire, a type of fishing
line that often ensnares sharks.
Cook Islands Sanctuary
NGM MAPS
Above: Silky sharks (pictured here in the Bahamas) were among
the species being killed around the Cook Islands before marine
biologist Jessica Cramp helped launch a sanctuary there. Now
she’s gathering data to evaluate if it’s working. Previous page:
Cramp free dives off Rarotonga, the largest of the Cook Islands.
Cook Islands
Cook Islands
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